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You didn’t ask for them, but here’s my pick for this week’s FCS Top 25.

So this is the week that North Dakota State falls.

They fell in a thrilling defensive battle at home to South Dakota State in the game for the “Dakota Marker”.

It was a great game, filled with drama and showed that the Jackrabbits are worthy of everyone’s attention this week. In fact, South Dakota State’s effective, time-consuming drive was in many ways pulling from North Dakota State’s own trademark last-second comebacks, pulling together a drive for the ages, daring them to stop them yet consistently converting 3rd and 4th downs to set up the chance to win.

But then, therein lies the tricky part. Where to rank the Bison, and where to rank the Jackrabbits?Read more »

My vote for the FCS Top 25 for the week ending 10/21/2013 follows below the flip.

But first, check out this great picture from New Hampshire of OL Ricky Archer and OL Joe Coccia celebrating what may have been the most thrilling game of the weekend, a thrilling 29-28 win by New Hampshire over Villanova that featured a tie and two lead changes in the final two minutes. (Photo Credit: John Tully/Concord Monitor)

From the article:

The season’s playoff hopes were about dead after Villanova (4-3) scored two touchdowns in a span of 46 seconds to take a 28-21 lead with 1:09 left in the game. But UNH got a 35-yard kickoff return from RS Dalton Crossan, plus 15 yards on a late-hit personal foul, to take over at the 50 with 1:02 on the clock. New Hampshire survived a fumble on an attempted hook-and-ladder play, got a pair of catches from RB Chris Setian for 24 total yards, and then QB Sean Goldrich (21-for-28, 236 yards, touchdown) turned a broken play into a 4-yard touchdown scramble to pull his team within one, 28-27, with just under 14 seconds remaining.

That put the pressure on head coach Sean McDonnell to decide whether or not to go for two. He said that offensive coordinator Ryan Carty “was pretty adamant” about going for the win.

“And I just felt, too, that if we were going to win it, we were going to win it there,” McDonell said. “Just felt like the momentum was there and I thought maybe they’d be a little bit on their heels.”

It turned out that Villanova was ready for Setian, but the senior captain bulled to the game-winning conversion anyway, capping a stellar day – career-high 88 yards on 12 carries and three catches for 28 yards.

Maybe it’s the cold, New England winters, the thick atmosphere around the financial and media centers of the large cities, or maybe it’s just something in the cold melted waters in the tiny hills we call mountains.

Or maybe it’s some of the calamities we’ve had over the last decade-plus. 9/11. Terrorism threats. Multiple storms that have knocked out power, crippled businesses and wrecked homes.

The latest happened this Friday, in a tiny, upper middle-class Connecticut hamlet only a half an hour from where I grew up.

My toughness, and a lot of the toughness that exemplify many of the people in the Northeast, disappeared.

Like many others, I wept for the victims of Newtown. But I was also appreciative for two hugely entertaining FCS football games that provided a very welcome distraction from the horrible events of Friday.

My vote for the FCS Top 25 for the week ending 10/13/2012 follows below the flip.And I'll answer the expected question: No, I did not vote for Lehigh as the No. 1 team in the nation, as three voters in the Sports Network poll did this week.Read mor…

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